Why is Albania not an EU candidate Member State?

Article by Alfred Kellerman (Team Leader in Tirana of an EU Project on the Strengthening of the Ministry of European Integration of Albania during 2006-08) considering the reasons why the EU has refused several times to grant Albania candidate status, based on an analysis of the impact of EU accession on Albania carried out in relation to the expected EU impact on: the national constitution; the role of the judiciary; the executive; and the national Parliament. The author explains the legal situation with regard to Albania raising a number of questions and might make it easier to understand why some of the key priorities have yet not been implemented in the Albanian legal order.